HOME OF HERITAGE

With Jane Austen, Queen Victoria and King Charles I among its guests, Stoneleigh Abbey deserves greater recognition for its place in British history. Jessica Hanson gets a tour

Chatsworth, Blenheim, Longleat –Britain is studded with notable country homes, whose splendour and heritage has earned them world renown. One name perhaps less well known is Stoneleigh Abbey – even though its remarkable history connects it to some of the most iconic figures in British history.

The Abbey sits in 690 acres of parkland overlooking the River Avon in Warwickshire, one of England’s most verdant and picturesque counties. Standing on the banks, the Abbey’s 18th Century grandeur is reflected in the calm waters of the river. It’s a view that captures something quintessential about what we call British heritage, and resonant with anyone who has come to know and love Britain’s countryside.

Stoneleigh started as a humble Cistercian monastery, built in 1154. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries between 1536 and 1541 by Henry VIII, the Abbey became the property of the crown. Henry VIII subsequently gifted the estate to his brother-in-law, Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, but the building was neglected and abandoned.